Harry Potter Month: My Introduction to HP

I'm a tad late kicking off Harry Potter month here at Rally the Readers, but my tardiness has actually worked out because it parallels my introduction to the world of HP. The fandom had been in full swing before I realized that HP was like, the greatest story in the history of ever.

Back in 2001, I was two years out of college and fumbling to rediscover the love of reading I knew before high school. I would read a book here and there, but I was still fairly far from making reading the necessary daily activity it is today.

So fourteen years ago, I was aware of the Harry Potter books and their popularity, but I didn't really have much interest in checking them out further. I thought the books were for kids, and I was already struggling to read "grown up" literature with something resembling regularity.

And then the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone hit theaters. My best friend, who'd read the books, suggested that we go see the movie. Curious to find out what all the buzz was about at last, I agreed. Nothing—NOTHING—could have prepared my brain for the extent to which it was about to be BLOWN. AWAY.

I don't know if a movie has ever held me so transfixed as Sorcerer's Stone did. Obviously, I knew zip about HP going in, so every new discovery that young Mr. Potter made about the wizarding world left me in absolute, mouth-permanently-fixed-in-open-position awe. Diagon Alley! Platform 9 3/4! The Hogwarts Express! Hogwarts! HOGWARTS! I distinctly remember being totally amazed by the moving portraits at Hogwarts and telling my mom all about them later, like I was 5 years old again, lol.

By the time my friend and I exited the theater, I was desperate to get my hands on the books. A sweet hardcover box set of the first four novels was available at the time, no doubt to coincide with the movie release, and once I got my box set, I didn't know anything or anyone until I'd read them straight through. Seeing the Sorcerer's Stone movie before reading the book did not spoil the reading experience AT ALL; quite the opposite—I was practically giddy reliving events in the book, especially since it was going to be months before I could rewatch the movie on DVD. XD

Thinking back to my initiation into all things HP evokes some truly happy memories, as I'm sure it does for many of us. Please feel free to share yours in the comments! :)

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Aw that sound amazing. If there is any movie series that will spark the need to read the books it's the HP movies.

I discovered the series circa 2007 after my snobby 6th grade face poked fun of a classmate for reading it, "a nerd book". I eat my words until this day. Once I did pick up the series, I didn't know anyone or anything until I finished the whole series. Thankfully all of it was out by then. I don't know how you survived the wait.

Oh, it was painful, especially since I happily cruised through the first four books consecutively. I feel like I truly joined the HP fandom the moment I finished Goblet of Fire and realized that I was now a part of the scores of other fans who now had to wait for book 5, lol!

This is so great! I love hearing people describe their first interactions with the Harry Potter world. I haven't found many people that weren't completely taken by the movies or the books, whichever they came across first. I feel like the phrase "I didn't know anyone or anything until.." is used commonly in regards to Harry Potter and I love it! There's nothing quite like diving deep into a world that captivates your entire being. Thanks for sharing!

HP is THE series that I most regret not getting into sooner. Once I started, I could NOT get enough- books to read, movies to watch, things to look up online, lol. I hope you do tell your story; I love reading fans' memories of the first time they stepped into the world of HP, too! :)

I absolutely adore seeing how people came to love the Harry Potter fandom ♥ Everyone's experience is different and that's what makes them so special. I like that you got into the series later Lee, it makes me feel better - I got into it even later than you did! Like you, I felt like I was too grown up for the series initially. How wrong we were! I read the books in 2005. I'd seen the first two movies back when I was in a big LotR fan and back then (for some reason) HP didn't quite measure up. The horror, right?! It wasn't until I saw PoA that I was sold and then of course, I HAD to read the books. The moment I started Philosopher's Stone, I was hooked though and never looked back :D

The PoA film is my favorite (I don't think that's a surprise because . . . Sirius and Lupin, LOL)! I love the first two movies like crazy and Sorcerer's Stone obviously has a very special place in my heart, but I feel like PoA saw the trio really start to grow up. Oh man, all of this reminiscing REALLY makes me want to do a reread! :D

I love that your introduction to Harry Potter was movie first - you're definitely not the only one who did it that way round, and I personally love having faces (real faces!) to put to our favourite characters. Picturing them yourself is great, but given that one of the things I love about Harry Potter is how much it draws people together, I like knowing everyone is picturing the same people!

One of my overwhelming memories of first getting into Harry Potter is in 1999, when I was in junior school. My teacher decided she wanted to read Harry Potter to the class, but my friend and I were already huge fans, so she let us read the first bit - because we literally knew the beginning by heart. Yes, I have always been a geek!

That is such a great memory, and I love that you and your friend knew the beginning by heart! You both must have been thrilled about reading HP in class- I know I would have been, and I would have completely forgotten that I was even in school! :D

What an amazing story =D. I like how you were introduced by the movie first and that is what made you first love the story. It really shows how amazingly well done the movies were. There have been so many book-to-movie adaptations lately and whenever anyone asks me what the best one I have ever seen was I always immediately say Harry Potter. I don't even say a specific movie, it just Harry Potter, lol :D

I really love this because it shows how influential Harry Potter has been. It isn't just a story, it isn't just fictional. It has influenced so many poeple's lives and that is one of the things I love so much about books. Harry Potter got so many people back into reading and because of that has changed so many lives. It reminds me of a quote I heard once, "Harry Potter isn't just about a magical story, it is magical".

I remember the first time I read the series, I did not like it at all. I was in this hipster phase and I was determined not to like it, so I didn't. And then one The Deathly Hallows part 1 movie released I was in the mood to re-read the series and I fell in love. I don't know how I managed not to like it the first time around, but I am so glad I decided to re-read it. Although I was sad because I thought I missed the hype and that no one would want to talk with me about Harry Potter. I am so glas I was wrong =D

Such a great story <3 I love that these books can take anyone, at any age back to the moment of wonder and enchantment as a child. My experience with the books is actually a funny story. My two older sisters loved the books beyond compare and bought each book as they released each year at midnight. They would stay up all night reading, sharing one copy between themselves on the couch. I was really young at the time and thought the books would be too hard for me to read and that I wouldn't like them, because frankly I didn't know what they were about. Even when the movies came out i was satisfied to just watch them in awe and listen to the heart-filling music as Harry discovered a new world, because truthfully, as a child I didn't really like reading books at all. But then finally, after quite a long time, and much longer than I think it should've taken me, I began reading the books slowly, here and there, during summers, and snatches of moments, until finally--finally, I got to the last two books which changed my perspective of the series infinitely (in a good way). And I think for me, it wasn't reading those books as a child that has affected me so much, but it has been reading them when i was older, as someone who could fully realize just how amazing these books are--that is what makes my experience with these books so precious.thanks for sharing your story :)

That is such a lovely story! Sometimes I wonder what my reading experience would have been like with the books if I'd been a lot younger when I first read them, but I think getting into them as an adult enabled me to appreciate them in a way that I might not have at a different age.

I had never heard of Harry Potter before I went to see the movie. I remember seeing the trailer and thinking that I should love to watch it as it combined my two favourite things: magic and a boarding-school. I had no idea that it would have such an impact on me. Such a great time that my best friend and I used to have reading the books, watching the movies, discussing our theories, obsessing over characters and actors alike! Good ol' times... I really miss our companionship back then.

Same here, I had very little idea of what HP was actually about before watching the first film. I'm so grateful to my friend for suggesting we go see it because if she hadn't, who knows when I would've caught on to all that I was missing, lol. It's so awesome that you and your best friend shared those HP moments together, and I think it's really illustrative of the amazing impact the series has had on fans of the books and the movies alike.

I also discovered the books a bit late. Well after they came out and even after the first movie was released. Like you, I knew it was popular but I hadn't actually considered reading the books or watching the movie. Then, when I was 11, my parents got me the first book for Christmas and everything changed. I remember being the same age as Harry in the first book when I first read it and eventually growing up with the series. Nothing will ever top HP for me :D Okay, this comment is getting waaay too long! But I really enjoyed this post. Brought back some memories of mine too ^_^

I just love this!! I think I'm going to do a post about my introduction as well. They are so much fun. I love that you mention the LONG wait between watching the movie and getting to relive it all on DVD. I know I went home immediately after the movies, and read the series again. I had just read it before going to see the movies each time as well. I truly haven't read a series as often as I have this one. I find the portraits amazing as well!! I remember talking to my mom about it too.

When Sorcerer's Stone came out on DVD, I was obsessed with watching it, lol, because I couldn't get enough of the world. And I tried to reread the books before each new movie release, starting with Chamber of Secrets. I think I only got to reread just Half-Blood Prince before that film came out, and I didn't have time to reread any of the books before Deathly Hallows Part 1 or 2. What I'd love to do one day is reread all the books, then rewatch all the movies. :D